The World Health Organization is currently monitoring a drug-resistant Salmonella epidemic connected to a Belgian chocolate factory.
According to a news release from the World Health Organization, at least 151 people, predominantly young children, have become ill with diarrhoea and vomiting after consuming Kinder chocolate eggs manufactured at a Ferrero Corporate plant in Arlon. WHO also added, “at least 113 countries” in Europe and around the world received Kinder products during the risk period, with salmonella bacteria matching the current human cases of infection discovered in buttermilk tanks at the factory in Arlon.
According to the US food safety law firm Marler Clark, despite case reports coming from all over Europe, genetic analysis indicated that the diseases were caused by the same strain of bacterium (S. Typhimurium) identified in a buttermilk tank at the facility in December 2021.
After consuming the infected chocolate, at least nine people were admitted to the hospital with severe salmonella infections. It’s likely that additional incidents resulted in hospitalisation, but the WHO only has information on 21 of them. To yet, no deaths have been reported as a result of the outbreak.
On March 27, health officials in the United Kingdom initially announced a widespread Salmonella outbreak. The UK’s Food Standards Agency issued a recall warning for certain batches of Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs less than a week later.
Belgian authorities shut down the Arlon factory completely on April 8, and Ferrero recalled all Kinder goods made there.
The fact that the epidemic occurred so close to the Easter weekend, according to experts, may have contributed to its widespread distribution. Given Kinder’s global reach, Bill Marler, an attorney who specialises in food-borne illness claims, said he was not surprised the outbreak reached the United States.
“What is worrisome is that the vast majority of the people injured are children under the age of 10,” Marler told Insider.
